Marine/Soldier Night Before By Major Bruce Lovely''Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,in a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone.I had come down the chimney with presents to give,and to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.no stocking by mantle, just boots filled with sand, on the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges and awards of all kinds, And a sober thought came through my mind.For this house was different, it was so dark and dreary, I had found the home of a Soldier, once I could see clearly.

The Soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone, Curled up on the floor of this one bedroom home. The face was so gentle, the room in such disorder,Not how I pictured a United States Soldier.

Was this the hero whom of whom I'd just read?Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed? I realized the families that I saw this night, Owed their lives to these Soldiers who were willing to fight.

Soon 'round the world, the children would play, And grownups would celebrate bright Christmas Day.They all enjoyed freedom each month of the year, Because of the Soldier, like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder how many lie alone, On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home. The very thought brought a tear to my eye, I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The Soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice, "Santa don't cry, this life is my choice. I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more."My life is my God, my Country, my Corps.

The Soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep, I couldn't control it, I continued to weep. I kept watch for hours so silent, and still, And we both shivered from the night's cold chill.

I didn't want to leave on that cold, dark night,this guardian of honor so willing to fight.Then the Soldier rolled over and with a voice soft and pure, Whispered, "Carry on Santa, it's Christmas Day, all is secure."

One look at my watch, and I knew he was right,Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night ...

STOCKHOLM -- Blaine Williams hasn't stopped grinning since he arrived in Sweden two weeks ago. Several times a day he'll approach a complete stranger, offer a handshake and a smile, introduce himself as a former CIA analyst from America, and proceed to tell the bewildered Swede all the things he knows that directly contradict President George W. Bush's declarations about Saddam Hussein's intentions and capabilities.

"Free at last!" Williams exclaimed to a reporter as he sat on his front porch and waved to new neighbors. "I was stuck in a totalitarian bureaucracy for 14 months. What a relief it is to say in public who I am and what I think."Williams is the first of dozens of former U.S. government employees expected to take refuge in Sweden over the next several months, courtesy of a bold project of the new social democratic government.

On October 15, the Swedish Parliament appropriated 500 million dollars for the "Palme Plan." Named for former Swedish president Olaf Palme, it promotes the virtues of free and honest speech among government officials in underdeveloped democracies.

"Swedes have always been generous in providing economic aid to countries with underdeveloped economies," said Erland Carlsson, the parliamentarian who conceived the Palme Plan. "But we've done little to promote democratic development in underdeveloped democracies."Some leaders of underdeveloped democracies have welcomed Sweden's "democracy teams," encouraging their efforts to create a culture of candor and transparency in the corridors of power. Those efforts comprise the overt component of the Palme Plan. The covert component kicks in when a leader is hostile to the very notions of candor and transparency.

Palme, who was Carlsson's political mentor, believed his greatest failure as president was his inability, during the Vietnam War, to persuade U.S. officialdom of the virtues of public candor. "Palme believed that if the national security bureaucracy had not been cowed into silence in the face of a torrent of deceit from a determined White House, the U.S. would never have invaded and destroyed Vietnam," Carlsson said.

An October 8 story in the Houston Chronicle, by Jonathan Landy and Warren Strobel ( http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/... ), convinced Carlsson that the same suffocating environment had enveloped key sectors of the Bush administration.

Thirteen officials from the CIA, State Department and Pentagon, many with vast experience in the Middle East and South Asia, told Landy and Strobel the same thing: The White House has squelched dissent, imposed conformity and silence, demanded skewed analyses to justify its hard line, and repeatedly exaggerated or falsified intelligence information to inflate the Saddam threat.What most alarmed the Swedish MP was that none of the analysts were willing to be quoted by name. Some were too frightened even to be quoted anonymously.

"I couldn't help thinking that if these informed, respected patriots could raise their voices openly and in unison, they'd stop the administration's chicken hawks in their tracks," Carlsson said. "Public and congressional support for the war path would whither, and the president would be exposed as the world's most crooked 'straight shooter.'"

Borrowing Bush's Brilliant IdeaWhen Bush insisted that U.N. weapons inspectors be able to take Iraqi scientists and their families outside of Iraq for interviews, thus protecting the scientists from possible retaliation by Saddam's secret police, Carlsson had the solution that had eluded Palme so many years ago."That's it!" he told a colleague. "We'll offer U.S. bureaucrats and their families safe passage to Sweden and a secure environment from which they can speak freely and publicly to the folks back home. They can stay here at our expense until a climate of openness and honesty prevails in the Bush administration."

In addition to Williams, 28 other bureaucrats and their families are en route to Stockholm. All were spirited out of Washington by a team of Swedish secret agents who had honed their rescue skills in Yugoslavia and the Congo.

Once the former officials settle into their new homes and get comfortable with saying who they are and what they think, they'll spend their time giving speeches an interviews.

Former CIA analyst Williams is already a sensation on Swedish TV as a regular guest on the top-rated chat show, Nugen Farger ("Hard Rugby"). On a recent edition, he parsed a string of Bush's statements on Iraq, including assertions at a Republican fundraiser that Saddam Hussein hopes to deploy al Qaeda as his "forward army" against the West, and that "we need to think about Saddam Hussein using al Qaeda to do his dirty work, to not leave fingerprints behind."

"I can assure you," Williams told Swedish viewers, "that no one at CIA believes a word Bush said. What's more, no one at CIA believes that Bush believes a word Bush said."

Strong words, and Williams anticipates an echo chamber as more of Sweden's newest residents regain their voice. But he wonders if members of the U.S. news media, particularly those he calls "the boobs on the tube," will dare to listen.

I firmly believe that everyone in the United Snakes should have guns. LOTS OF THEM! And they should be allowed to carry guns with them to school, kindergarten, college, to church, to the shopping mall, to the cinema, the post office, in their cars, and on domestic flights too. You never know when you'll need it. Particularly when dining out:

<quoted text>Oh, I can guarantee you won't be falling asleep tonight, Redbutt. You'll be lying awake wonder why you were so stupid. You may have noticed that the more you tempt me the worse it gets for you.

why are you obsessed with men's butts !?!?!?!why did you pretend to be a woman on Topix !?!?!?!?why did you Lie about serving in Vietnam !?!?!?!?why did you Lie about being in Iran during the Islamic Revolution !?!?!?

How ironic is it that you call others Phony !!!!!!

Force Majeure wrote:

<quoted text>You can post the same unimaginative drivel as often as you like, but it will never make it true.What a bigot you are, RedButt Herpies1

why are you obsessed with men's butts !?!?!?!why did you pretend to be a woman on Topix !?!?!?!?why did you Lie about serving in Vietnam !?!?!?!?why did you Lie about being in Iran during the Islamic Revolution !?!?!?How ironic is it that you call others Phony !!!!!!<quoted text>

A long time ago the Goofball posted what unit he allegedly served with in the Vietnam .... the only problem was that the unit he claimed to have served with did not fight in Vietnam with the US army, the unit fought with the South Vietnamese army !?!?!?!?!?

Soooooo somehow a guy from Sweden volunteered and fought with the SVA during the Vietnam War .... I don't know about you guys but I find that hard to believe !?!?!?!?

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